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firehouse to foo-foo in one swipe of her pen, or computer keyboard as it were. It had been a very productive day.  
    Now she was about to have an evening alone with Scott. Lexi flung open the door, excited to get right down to more lessons…and maybe a little something else too.
    “Something you want to tell me?” Scott, in jeans now instead of his uniform pants but still in his T-shirt, braced himself against the doorframe with one hand. He held her cookbook in the other. Her own photo smiled back at her from the back cover.
    Uh, oh. She swallowed hard as her heart sank. She took a step back. “You better come inside. This may take awhile to explain.”
    Scott raised a brow. “Ya think?”
    That figured. She finally found a guy she liked that by some miracle seemed to like her back, and she was even actually learning how to cook, and now it was all a big mess.
    Lexi let out a loud huff of breath. “This is all Robert’s fault.”
    “Who the hell is Robert? You got a husband too, on top of a best selling cookbook?” His dark brows rose. For the first time since she’d met him, his blue eyes didn’t look friendly.
    “No. I’m not married. Robert is my agent.” She forced herself to look at him and found that at least Scott looked relieved at that revelation. Or maybe she just wanted him to look relieved that she was single.
    He wasn’t as angry as he could have been, she supposed, considering she lied about who she was. He did look as if he was expecting a good explanation though. Good or not, the only thing she had to give was the truth.
    Now that her hand was forced, Lexi felt almost relieved. No more hiding. No more lying. Of course, it meant her career might be over. She swallowed hard at that thought.
    “Please. Have a seat.”
    She may not be able to cook, but she was still a good hostess. She grabbed an open bottle of red wine from the counter, one she’d opened the day before. She’d been drinking a lot lately since the Chef Frederick hell had started. Lexi poured them both a glass. She handed one to Scott. The delicate stemmed wine glass looked ridiculous in his big hands.
    “Sorry I don’t have any beer to offer you.” She perched on the edge of the chair opposite where Scott sat on the couch.  
    He laughed. “Oh, believe me, any alcohol right now would be fine…and an explanation.”
    “You deserve an explanation.” Lexi nodded and took a bracing swallow of wine. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. It all started about three years ago…”
    She told him about everything. Her evil boss and the blowout that led to her quitting the public relations firm. Her life-long desire to be a writer. The opportunity at the local paper for a weekly lifestyle columnist. Her agent Robert and the little white lie that had snowballed, leading to the cookbook offer, the television show and even more lies. She told him about Chef Frederick and the soufflés he’d thrown at her. Finally, she threw in that if she didn’t learn to cook in two weeks, there would be no food at the pre-bachelor auction fundraiser that the entire board of the children’s hospital would be attending along with other paying guests.
    “So that’s it.” She concluded with a sigh and realized that this was the first time she’d breathed freely in weeks. No wonder she was crying over eggs lately, the stress had been overwhelming. “You know what? It feels really good to have that all off my chest. Although I’m going to be publicly ruined and humiliated and my career will be over. Maybe I will have to become a firewoman.”
    Scott put his now empty glass on the table. He didn’t say a word as he rose and knelt in front of her chair. He took her hands in his large warm ones and squeezed. God, he was so sweet, even now, and she felt even worse for having deceived him.
    “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you the truth. Do you think you can forgive me?”
    He nodded. “I already have. And your career isn’t